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Might and Magic Wiki:Manual of Style
Just to prevent chaos and make things a little easier later on, I've written a small guideline of style. Please try your best to adhere to it if you're improving an article, but it's not the bible so don't worry too much when you're creating one. Add to this if you like: *When the article's title crops up for the first time in an article, Bold it. For example: Lord Haart was a Knight from VARN who served Morglin Ironfist. If the character/thing has an alias, also bold that if you mention it. For instance: Escaton the Destroyer, also known as Ruin, Devil's Doom and The Spider in the Web Gate... *Images should be in .png format wherever possible. Best quality and useful when making archives like this. Replace old .gifs or .jpgs with .pngs if you have the same image in better quality. *Use discretion when redirecting articles to new names. If disambiguating characters, make sure they actually are two characters (i.e. Pomponderant from Swords of Xeen may well be Pomponderant from The Dreamwright, so keep them to one article). *Characters from Heroes I and II who carried over from MM1-5 do not get their own Heroes article. Mention that they made a non-canon appearance in Heroes I or II in their Might and Magic article (like Kastore). The exceptions are heroes who returned in Heroes III or MM6, like Crag Hack or Fineous. *Disambiguation pages should display the Disambiguation tag in a Disambiguation subsection at the bottom. Just copy and paste it from other disambig articles. *If an article is solely linked to the original universe (like Solmyr ibn Wali Barad), add the Original universe category. If it's linked to the Ubisoft continuity (like Zehir), add the Ubisoft continuity category. If neither apply, don't add either. *For the Heroes games, group creatures under one article. Use Hydra (Heroes) instead of Hydra (H5). Don't do the same for Might and Magic articles (includes Dark Messiah). *Be sparing when adding templates at the bottom of articles. For instance, if writing an article about Magnus, don't add (Template:Ancients, Template:Bracada, Template:Enroth, Template:Conflux, Template:Axeoth). That makes a mess. Keep it to a maximum of three. *For game names, always italicise (i.e. not Warlords of the Wasteland, but Warlords of the Wasteland). That's all for the moment, please add more if you have a suggestion and try to follow them where possible. Nobody will rip off your head if you don't, but it helps to keep things consistent. Revamping (WIP) Article names *For characters, article nomenclature must include only the character's common name: do not include ranks, titles or prestige, even if an iteration in the series does, or only the character's surname is known. For instance, Lord Haart is covered under the article Haart. Policy on canon Canon is a term used to define material in Might and Magic lore which can be considered official; any material unified under the canon is accepted as "true" within the context of its fictional universe. On the other hand, non-canonical material is apocryphal, and should be considered "untrue". Universes As of now, the Might and Magic series is divided into two distinct canons, or universes: the original universe and the Ubisoft continuity. Any lore-related article which cannot be categorised under either of these settings is deemed non-canonical. Non-canonical material can be identified by this template: The exceptions to this rule constitute articles covering the lore of games in the King's Bounty series, which are deemed King's Bounty canon. Neither New World Computing nor Ubisoft has explicitly commented on the issue of canon in the series - therefore, the term is strictly unofficial, used to easily determine which aspects of the series should be true and which are false. All official products in the series are deemed canonical by default, although some of the official games are designated non-canonical for various reasons. Specifics Might and Magic RPGs All events in the nine core Might and Magic RPGs should be considered definitively canonical, with no exceptions. Heroes of Might and Magic The official campaigns included in all five core Heroes games and their expansion packs are definitively canonical (aside from the campaigns of Heroes II: The Price of Loyalty), including their scenarios, events and related material (such as manuals). Inversely, all single scenarios and multiplayer maps included with the Heroes games and Desecrated Lands, official or not, should be considered non-canonical. Heroes of Might and Magic V is an exception to this rule: its official single-player maps are clearly set in Ashan, and are therefore canonical. The Heroes Chronicles are deemed part of canon, including both downloadable episodes. The Game Boy Color remakes of Heroes I and II do not contain storylines relevant to the original universe, and are considered non-canonical, as are Heroes of Might and Magic Online and Might and Magic: Heroes Kingdoms. The lore introduced by the card games based on Heroes of Might and Magic IV and V, created by DGA Games, is not considered canonical. King's Bounty series King's Bounty and Quest for the DragonBone Staff are not explicitly set within the same canon as King's Bounty: The Legend and its expansions. Nonetheless, the lore of the three games is grouped under King's Bounty canon. Spinoffs Legends of Might and Magic and the Ardon series explicitly take place in the original universe: Dragon Rage and Shifters are canon. However, only the PlayStation version of Crusaders and the PlayStation 2 version of Warriors are considered canonical. Equally, [[Dark Messiah and Clash of Heroes (and their multiplatform ports Elements and Clash of Heroes High-Definition) are canon, occurring within the Ubisoft contiunity. All three published novels in the Might and Magic series are considered canonical. While the game of Arcomage is canonical, the lore of the standalone title based on the game is not considered as such, nor are Gameloft's Might and Magic games for mobile platforms. Ambiguous situations Cancelled entries Explicit storyline details regarding unreleased or cancelled entries in the series, such as Might and Magic: The Worldcrafter, are scarce. However, any such details should be considered non-canonical by default, unless there is reason to assume otherwise. Remakes Remakes or reimaginings are not typically straightforward in terms of canon. If the remake is directly authorised (as in the case of the Dark Messiah scenario), it may be considered canonical. Multiplatform releases If a game is rereleased on multiple platforms, its status is canon may be debatable. For instance, only the PlayStation 2 release of Warriors of Might and Magic is considered canon, whereas both the original Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and its XBox 360 port, Elements, are canonical. Multiple outcomes Most of the Might and Magic games have linear or obvious storylines and outcomes. In general, articles assume that a player has completed each quest or mission, optional or otherwise, successfully (i.e. without mentioning death or defeat, unless such events are included as part of the story). Heroes II: The Succession Wars, Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic have multiple possible storylines, each with credible endings. In the cases of Heroes II and Might and Magic VII, later installments in the series confirmed that Roland's campaign and the events of the Path of Light are canonical. As such, the events of Archibald's campaign and the Path of Darkness are considered non-canonical, albeit with some exceptions. The true ending to the events of Dark Messiah has not been confirmed, and relevant articles should be written with this in mind. Time Questlines in the Might and Magic series and most scenarios in the Heroes series can literally take an infinite amount of game time to complete - centuries if needs be. For convenience of canon, articles on the Might and Magic Wiki should assume that the player completed their goal quickly and within a reasonable amount of time in each mission. This policy is justified by Might and Magic VII, which reveals that the events of Might and Magic VI took roughly half a year to complete in canon, and by various sources relevant to the Heroes games: Might and Magic VII divulges that Heroes III's events lasted three years, and Jeff Spock stated that the storyline of Heroes V lasted only a year or two. Jokes Some non-serious material included in canonical games, such as easter eggs or obvious whimsy, should not be treated as canon (or only dubiously so): for instance, the NWC Dungeon in Might and Magic VI, or Plate from Heroes V. Fanmade content The Might and Magic Wiki covers some highly noteworthy fan-created projects; however, all are currently deemed non-canonical, regardless of whether their storyline and setting complements or contradicts one of the Might and Magic universes. This applies even in cases of "ascended projects" (such as Swords of Xeen, which was created by fans and eventually published by The 3DO Company). The Ubisoft Seal of Approval accolade does not supersede this rule. External material When relevant to lore, interviews with personnel who have contributed to the series should generally be considered part of canon, as is any external material officially supporting a canonical storyline, such as Tales from the Swamps or the Chronicles of Ashan. Chain of precedence In the event of an irreconcilable conflict between canonical sources (such as the true forename of Lord Ironfist), the wiki uses a simple chain of precedence used to determine which source is "truer" and used in articles: *In general, a storyline, interview or comment is given maximum precedence if written by a writer who worked on a core game in the series (such as Jon Van Caneghem, Tim Lang, Terry Ray or Jeff Spock). *Core games (numbered Might and Magic RPGs or Heroes iterations and their expansions) take a lower level of precedence, with newer games considered more definitive than older ones. *Spinoffs and novels written by other authors, such as The Sea of Mist (by Mel Odom) or Clash of Heroes (by Dan Vader) are considered less definitive. *All other material is given the least level of precedence, and discarded if a "stronger" source exists. Irreconcilable conflicts are rare, however - ideally, articles will take note of minor conflicts or discrepancies where present, and allow readers to use discretion to what is strictly correct.